Flood and spot
Also called beam pattern, throw and flood
Flood is a wide beam lighting everything in front of you. Spot is a narrow beam that throws far.
A flood beam is what you want for almost everything a headlamp does at the water: unhooking a fish, tying a knot, finding a tray in a bag, walking a path. It lights a wide area at short range with no harsh hotspot.
A spot beam concentrates the same output into a narrow cone that reaches out fifty or a hundred metres. It is for finding a marker, checking the far bank, or spotting the trail back to the car.
Many lamps offer both, either as separate emitters or as a focusable lens. A lamp with only a spot beam is genuinely annoying to work under, because everything outside the hotspot disappears and your eyes never adapt to the darkness around it.
Beam distance is quoted in metres on the box and describes the spot, not the flood. A lamp advertising 150 metres of throw may still light your hands badly.
Prioritise a good flood beam. A headlamp is a working light first and a searchlight second.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use flood and spot and show it on real gear.
Flood and spot is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
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